Shabby Cottage Chic Porches

A porch for your home, one that goes an extra mile for a country cottage look, beats the rest in the game.  The porch is everybody's favorite retreat.  This is the place where guests are entertained or where the family gathers together for lazy afternoons during weekends.

The Victorian Porch

It is easy to fall in love with the countryside but this attraction is largely due to the quaint bed and breakfast inns in England or any part of the English continent.  The Victorian period of England's history has contributed much to the cottage home decorating and extra attention is given to the Victorian porch.

The Victorian cottage spans several designs -- the governor's cottage, captain's cottage and to the lowly yet picturesque farmer's cottage.  All of these must have porches, grand or simple.  The porch adds a decorative touch or provides a utilitarian purpose. 

The Victorian porch of the 18^th and 19^th century featured double-tiered porches, sawn wood rails, ornate cornices, and bow trims.  For your little house or for an extra punch to rev up the exteriors of your home, you can add these features or simply paint the rails and cornices white and add your favorite coffee table or old wooden bench - toss a quilt and add old crockery filled with your favorite blooms and you have your porch.

For lovely Victorian touches, you have to get someone who is comfortable with a hammer and saw or order customized railings and cornices for an existing porch.  The porch flooring can be stenciled for that "old" or used look to complete the picture you have on your mind.   

The Modern Porch

If you want something else for your cottage porch, you can put your design on paper or tell your decorator what you want.  Plucky individuals with some expertise with the hammer and saw simply cut out designs from magazines or redo their porches by adding accents - huge comfortable pillows, a porch swing, tons of flowers, lacy sheaths, and repainted old low tables.  The result would be pure shabby cottage chic!

Rattan baskets, crockery, potted plants, cottage porch lamps, framed prints, and classic wind chimes increase the shabby glamour with a punch, and how!  Don't forget to add floor candle holders or electric candles to add safe authentic-looking lighting for the porch.  At night time, the porch is a welcome sight for Dad when he comes home from work.

The Garden Look

Gardens add grace and charm to any home but if you don't have the luxury of a garden space, recreate the garden look in your porch. With accessories available you can easily do a porch make over or add a porch.  You don't need to do the whole make-over from scratch.  Get ready to use or prefabricated porch materials. 

If the house already has a porch, renovating the corner to create a garden look is a breeze.  Baskets, potted plants, flowery prints and wicker furniture are the basic you can start with.  As the budget allows it, you can add more interesting accents over time.

If you want more ideas for your porch, check out the internet for shabby cottage chic porches to mix and match your ideas with the ideas of the experts.